Police: Man Dies After Being Struck By Train

A man walking to work across a railroad bridge died Thursday when he was struck by a train and thrown into a canal separating West Palm Beach and Lake Worth.

Police were withholding the identity of the 32-year-old West Palm Beach man until relatives could be notified.

West Palm Beach police Capt. Ron Albright said the man was walking across the trestle to his job in Lake Worth about 7:15 a.m. when he was struck by a southbound Florida East Coast Railroad freight train.

The train crew reported the accident, police said.

Albright said the force of the collision hurled the man into the West Palm Beach Canal. Two divers found the body at 10:30 a.m. in 30 feet of water about 35 feet east of the bridge, which spans the canal west of Dixie Highway.

``I don`t know why he didn`t jump off the trestle when he saw the train coming,`` said Lt. J.W. Davis, who heads the West Palm Beach police dive team.

Davis said the man may have thought the 2 1/2-foot clearance on either side of the tracks was enough room to stay clear of the train.

``If you stand there, I imagine the train will still get you,`` he said.

``It`s a real bad canal,`` Davis said. ``The water is real murky, and there`s a lot of debris in there.``

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, but Davis said it appeared the man died from the impact with the train.

Davis said the victim was wearing work clothes and was apparently on his way to his job as a pipe fitter in Lake Worth. He said the man recently moved to West Palm Beach from Miami.